The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) detected 113 bribery cases in the banking sector in 2006 that involved 26.08 million yuan ($3.34 million), and detained 164 people.

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Most of the cases have either been settled by the courts or have entered the judicial process, Gong Jie, an official in charge of CBRC's anti-commercial bribery section said yesterday.

The CBRC has stepped up its efforts to prevent bribery or bring the culprits to book in recent years, especially after the central government tightened its resolve to eradicate the social and economic malaise.

A total of 316 commercial bribery cases were dealt with between 2003 and 2005, involving more than 72.7 million yuan ($9.3 million).

"In most of the cases, bank staff had taken bribes mainly to grant loans for infrastructure construction or large purchases, such as those needed for IT projects," Gong said.

Eleven of the cases between January 2001 and May 2006 involved 26.9 million yuan ($3.45 million) and were related to the IT projects of the top five banks: the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications.

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